Family upset over history of child neglect in West Allis fire

Couple takes news of children's death hard

Family and friends of the three children killed in a West Allis house fire are still coming to grips with the disturbing details of how they died, and they're not the only ones upset by the alleged conditions the children were living in.

On Wednesday, extended family members gathered at the destroyed house to continue to pray for justice.

Authorities said 24-year-old Angelica Belen locked her children, 5-year-old Nayeli Colon and 4-year-old twin boys, Alex and Adrian Colon, who both had special needs, in a bedroom with a deadbolt while she was at work.

"Her purpose for doing that is so they couldn’t get out and mess up her house, and so that her neighbors wouldn’t see them, that they were alone and call the police," said Assistant District Attorney Michael Lonski.

Firefighters found the children's bodies huddled under a dresser.

According to numerous court documents and police reports, Belen has a past of neglecting her children dating back to 2007, the year Nayeli was born. The allegations include filthy conditions, no running water, exposed electrical wiring, children left home alone in the middle of the night and children seen eating out of garbage.

In January, case workers were so concerned about the children's safety that they asked the district attorney's office to intervene. The district attorney declined to ask a judge to remove the children from the home, nothing their mother's willingness to work with child welfare, which increased its monitoring.

In February, a case worker reported finding Belen's twins and their baby brother home alone.

Rita Privette and Joe Tyborski called police in March after they saw the twin boys running in front of cars in a parking lot with no adult in sight.

"They were left. One almost got hit; (the other) had a cold. Their clothing was dirty. They had white paint in their hair," said Tyborski.

Tyborski walked the two boys into the store and asked who was responsible for the children.

"(The mother) didn’t seem nervous. She didn’t look scared. She seemed like, 'This is what I do all the time, and I'm taking my kids,'" said Privette.

The couple has been taking the news of the children's passing especially hard.

"Joe doesn’t have kids," said Privette.

"I've never had my own, but I've treated everybody else's children like they're my own," said Tyborski.

"We did all we could do, and we really trusted our system to take over, and our system failed," Privette told 12 News.

On April 5, the DA filed a petition to remove the children from the home. A hearing was set for April 30, but it was already too late for three of Belen's children. The youngest child, Wilfredo, survived because he was with his father the day of the fire.

"(Belen) went to work. She made the decision to be able to provide for her children," said Belen's lawyer, Reyna Morales.

Belen was once a victim of abuse and neglect. According to court records, Belen was removed from her mother's care at age 3. She was abused in foster care, and then sent to a children's home.

Belen is charged with nine counts of neglect, three of which resulted in the deaths of her children. She's due in court next week on the charges and on April 30 to determine the placement of her surviving son.

If convicted in the deaths of her children, Belen could face a maximum 75-year sentence.

According to a Facebook page dedicated to the children, funeral arrangements are being arranged, but relatives have indicated it will be a private service.